God Gives Another Helper
Tim Beerman
The Lord's Table • Sermon • Submitted
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· 72 viewsJesus promises the gift of the HS to those who obey him.
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“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Jesus, at the end of his earthly ministry
loved them fully and completely (13:1)
tetelestoi - all of his love, all of their lives and for all of eternity
expressed through washing feet
ultimately through cross
giving of the HS to be with them forever
encouraged them not to be troubled
given in context of Peter’s 3 fold denial and Jesus’ foreknowledge of the scattering of his disciples
having expressed his love for them Jesus turned their attention to their love for him
he was well aware they deeply desired to be with him and that they loathed the prospect of being separated from him
they were anxious and fearful at not being able to follow him
The Real Proof of Love
The Real Proof of Love
though they professed their affection in their desire to be with him, all of them except John and Peter would desert Jesus when he was arrested
Peter and John followed Jesus to the home of the High Priest but there Peter denied him 3x (confronted 2x by servant girl and 1x by bystanders - Mt 26:69-75)
Jesus was well aware that except for John all of his disciples would desert him
Jesus’ response: taught his disciples what true love looked like
“if you love me”
3 kinds of love: eros, phileo and agape
agape the highest and best of the 3: love of choice & self-sacrifice
faithfulness, commitment, act of will
many marriages that fail do so because they lack this kind of love
fully described in 1 Cor 13
God is the definition of love
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
this kind of love does not come naturally to us because of our sin nature
cannot love like this without the HS
and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
how could Jesus’ disciples express this kind of love to him? obedience (v.15 & 21)
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.
apart from obedience any profession of love for Jesus is false
apart from the love of Jesus no one will see God
this puts the nail in the coffin of the teaching that it is possible to be a Christian but not have Christ as Lord
if Christ is indeed Lord we must obey him otherwise there’s no point in calling him this!
conversely this also means that one who truly loves Christ will never be comfortable with their sinful fleshly desires but will fight against them
Romans 6:1-2; 6-7; 11-19
Romans 8:1-17
The Blessing of Obedience
The Blessing of Obedience
the reward for loving Christ is the gift of “another Helper”
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
when Jesus asks, God always gives
why? because Jesus was fully obedient to the Father
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
because of Jesus’ obedience the Father always gave what Jesus asked for
in like manner Jesus promised his disciples in 14:13-14!
God will always give what we need as long as we are living in obedience to Christ’s commands!
“another helper”
“another” suggests there was one before who was none other than Jesus
Jesus was their first “helper” and after going to the Father the HS would be “another” helper
“to be with you forever”
unlike Jesus who was about to leave them the HS would never leave them
why never leave? because he would take up permanent residence within them
Jesus doesn’t ask the Father that everyone be given this gift but only those who love him, who sacrifice themselves for him
Jesus’ prayer to Father: “give the HS to everyone who obeys me”
the Father gives the “Helper” to those whom Jesus prays for and he does not pray for everyone
I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.
Who is This “Helper”?
Who is This “Helper”?
1. He is eternal (i.e. God)
3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”
bible attributes the attributes and activities of God to HS
“He will be with you forever”
having taken on flesh Jesus could no longer be in 2 places at once so the HS fulfills that function
“forever” also strongly hints at the doctrine of election and the perseverance of the saints
election: if our salvation depended on our choice we could just as easily un-choose
because God chooses us He will never let us go
our eternal destiny is fixed
He will enable the elect, those who he has chosen to be saved, to persevere to the end
if the HS will be with them forever and the condition of giving the HS is obedience then they will keep obeying as long as they live
those who stop obeying and die in a state of disobedience may never have been saved
the reason why true believers keep short accounts with God!
2. He is “the Spirit of truth”
This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
the Spirit is the truth and truth is the Spirit
the Spirit and the truth are one and the same
cannot know the truth apart from the Spirit
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
bears witness about Jesus
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
guides into all the truth
does not speak on his own authority but from the one who sent him
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
there are two spirits: the Holy Spirit of truth and the spirit or error
6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
there are many who claim that the HS speaks to them
how do you know it’s the HS and not wishful thinking or worse the “spirit of error”?
we will know by comparing what we hear to the Word of Truth, the Bible
since the work of the Spirit is to lead and guide us into all truth, bears witness about Christ and helps us understand the things God has given and the bible is our only objective standard of absolute truth we can measure what we hear only by the the Word
this is what the Bereans did when Paul came to them as a missionary and preached the gospel to them
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
3. He Cannot be Received by the World
because the world neither sees nor knows him they cannot accept him (cannot and will not)
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
more and more people today claim to be “spiritual” yet according to the scriptures they cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God
must remember 1 Jn 4:6
there are two spirits in the world, the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error
this is because there are 2 fathers in the world
Jesus to the Jews who believed in him but wanted to kill him because of his claims to equality with God: “you are of your father the devil” Jn 8:42-47
HS and the truth can only be known when he makes his home within a person
he only makes his home in those who repent of their sins and place their trust in Christ’s atoning sacrifice
this destroys the argument that the only thing holding a person back from being saved is their choice
unbelievers do not receive the HS because they cannot
they are dead in sin and are in rebellion against God’s law
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
The Lord’s Table
The Lord’s Table
as we approach the Lord’s Table some questions to ask ourselves
do you love Jesus?
are you sacrificing you life for Him?
are you walking in obedience to Jesus’ commands?
is there some area of your life that you have not surrendered to him?
is there any sin that you have not dealt with?
have you been given the Spirit of truth?
is he enabling you to obey?
is he guiding you into more and more truth?
is he causing you to cry out to God as your father?
If you can say “yes” to these questions then Jesus invites you to his table
if you cannot say “yes” to these questions then I warn you not to partake but rather to humble yourself before the Lord
if you would like help answering these questions I would love to speak with you after the service